hedgerowhollowrpfandomcom-20200214-history
Sponsors
The following article has been brought to you by Catch'em All Pokéball, the leading brand in Trainer satisfaction for over sixty years. With a sleek new steel-tone design and smoother surface area for ease of throwing, the 2018 model is ready to help you fill your Pokédex! ♫ ''Catch'em catch'em gotta catch'em all, Got a Catch'em All Pokéball! ''♫ Sponsors, in the context of Training, are companies, individuals or organizations who support Pokémon Trainers financially, or through providing them with free products or services, in return for promotional appearances and frequent, visible use of their brand. Why are Sponsors Necessary? In the upper tiers of the sport, virtually every ''Trainer has at least one sponsor, regardless of any personal morals and attitudes towards "selling out" that they may otherwise maintain. The answer to ''why these endorsements are necessary is a simple one: Training is prohibitively expensive. ''The costs associated with frequent travel and accommodations, with purchasing basic necessities such as food and professional necessities such as pokéballs, and with paying out prize money when a match results in a loss (and in Pokémon Leagues, these "losing fees" ''start ''at about 500,000 Pokédollars/$4500 USD and only go north from there) all add up very, '''very' quickly. The high individual costs of the sport are one of the primary reasons that so few prospective Trainers ever make it that far beyond their hometowns, never mind to other Regions altogether - a few unlucky losses in a new Trainer's career can drain their money and force them to quit, all before they ever truly had a chance to begin. , Gary Oak used to shill 7-Eleven in return for those sweet sponsor bucks. ...As well as something called "Cool Trans." Ah, the 90's were a different time~]] The system is this way by design - ''in order for most circuit Trainers to catch the eye of a sponsor in the first place and start netting endorsements, they have to ''survive their starting Region and place in at least the upper thirty-two of their first League (and ''pay prize money all along the way, including for their League loss, if applicable), subsisting before then only on whatever money they can get a hold of, in whatever way possible. Some Trainers have the benefits of family connections - with a grandfather who is a worldwide celebrity and a great-uncle who was involved in Regional politics, Gary Oak already had sponsors attached to him before he'd even gotten his first pokémon - and still others come from wealthy enough backgrounds that even without the initial backing of a sponsor, finances are no problem for them. Most, however, have to subsist entirely unsupported until they can break into celebrity status and gain access to all of the perks that come with such; proportionally, very few do. Put it into perspective - within a Region, thousands of ten-year-old kids (and no small number of older individuals, too) start their Journeys each year. And each year, the Regional League Conference will only host sixty-four contestants, of which many will be more seasoned challengers, consisting both of locals and of travellers from other Regions alike. The number of Trainers who are ''new to the sport competing in a Region's League in any one year averages to less than ten'', and frequently, to ''less than five ''(and of those, maybe only two or three will actually ''place in the top thirty-two).'' Just how ''truly cutthroat and steeped in the law of the jungle the League system is, is dressed in the attractive trappings of inspirational messages that espouse, not entirely untruthfully, that anyone ''can be a Pokémon Master if they simply ''want ''it enough. And if you fail, well...''it's because you didn't try hard enough. ''Except for the tiny handful who will make it far enough to attract a sponsor to finance their journeys onwards, these kids all return to school when the last of their funds are wiped out, where they must settle back into their ordinary lives; the weight of their failure a cultural millstone that will weigh heavily about their hearts. Celebrity Trainers bearing more branding than a race car are, in this sense, an inevitable outcome. And '''who' laughs all the way to the bank? The sponsors, of course, as does the League, who benefits in a multitude of ways from this system being set up in the fashion that it is. Who Sponsors Trainers? in this still from an old Kantonese infomercial, where plugs for the various companies interspersed footage designed to drum up hype for KTV's airing of Lumiose 2003. Note the ever-present "The Pokémon Company," which sponsors every League broadcast.]] The corporations that sponsor Trainers are generally those whose goods cater specifically to them and their needs, those who target children and young people as a whole, as well as products with universal appeal (fast food restaurants and soft drinks, for example). There are far too many sponsors to list them all, but several will be described in more detail below as examples. 7-Eleven As the largest private (as opposed to government-regulated) rival of League-sponsored Pokémarts, the 7-Eleven corporation invests heavily in endorsing individuals who give off a 'hip' or 'edgy' air, to position themselves as the 'cooler' alternative for trendy Trainers. 7-Eleven's goods, which cost more than what can be bought at subsidized Pokémarts, are a way for a Trainer to visibly flaunt their success, to silently say "Unlike you, I don't have to budget every Dollar I have." McDonald's Fast food is a staple in the travelling Trainer's diet, and McDonald's is the most aggressive of these companies in terms of endorsements, on account of their vast global reach. They tend to give their money to Trainers with 'safe' personalities who battle within the bounds of the League's rules, especially if the individuals are charismatic and promote noncontroversial positive values - in short, those they can trust not to rock the boat too much and reflect badly upon their massive brand. Takara Tomy A toy company, who markets both to the audiences of children who look up to celebrity Trainers as heroes and role models, but also to Trainers of any age. A few lines that they license from other toy companies, or that they produce in-house, that are relevant to Trainers include the Regional Heroes (the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh lines) and various waves of plastic pokémon figures, some of which have Pokédex integration built in for running battle simulations. As their primary consumers are children, many of the Trainers they choose to sponsor will be on the younger side, with fifteen or so as the upper limit in age. It is important that the individuals they choose have both "kid appeal" and "parent appeal" - no one too objectionable in their views or behaviors, but also not someone seen as dull or disinteresting. "The Pokémon Company" This vaguely-named entity, a sponsor of all televised League broadcasts, is believed to be little more than a dummy arm of the League itself. Interpol are convinced it's a front for money laundering and tax evasion, but they have little authority to do anything about it without cooperation from national or Regional governments. The proceeding article was brought to you by Catch'em All Pokéball, the leading brand in Trainer satisfaction for over sixty years. ♫ ''When there's so many monsters out there to see, to be a Pokémon Master is YOUR destiny! ''♫ Get out there and Catch'em All with our Pokéball! Category:Lore Category:Terminology